my first night in Japan
(for the Inoue family)
I slept for twenty-four hours
at least that’s how I
remember it happening
then we had miso soup with
tiny clams in the bottom
of each wooden bowl
we were seated around
a dining room table
on regular chairs
all things I’d been told
not to expect to find
10,000 miles from home
it was my host mom, brother
two sisters and me;
obaasan ate in her own room
we brought her a tray, some
for her, some for the shrine
to her late husband
it was when we put our hands
together to remember him
that I fell in love with Japan
19 November 2013
Oak Street